From Publishers Weekly
This quirky work will reel in geography aficionados and trivia buffs like nothing else. It reveals ordinary, extreme and surprising facts about places around the world, including their names, topography, transportation, idiosyncrasies, climates, demographics, finances, recreational pursuits and politics. Among the facts readers will glean: Argentina’s highest speed limit is 130 km/hr (81 mph); East Orange, NJ, is the most populous U.S. city or town with a population that’s less than 5% white; Seoul, South Korea, is the largest world city with a one-syllable name; Lake Forest, Ill., is the richest city in the U.S. (with a per capita income of $77,092); and Socorro, Tex., is the poorest (its per capita income is $7,287). Like census figures, these pieces of information beg for analysis, which Maxwell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, does not provide. Yet the facts he presents (which come from the CIA World Factbook, the 2000 U.S. Census and elsewhere) still fascinate.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Description
More than 500 astonishing lists and oddities fill this unusual compendium of geographic trivia. From a list of countries with the lowest number of international tourists per year to information about the largest countries in the world without an FM station, this book of wide-ranging curiosities makes minutia from across the world fascinating. What U.S. towns have the same name as a foreign country? Which large U.S. cities claim the highest percentage of households without telephone service? What state's residents call soft drinks "pop" more than any other? This humorous and revealing book holds these answers and many more.
